A 1.8 billion auction

Greetings,

Rizzo, the Bitcoin Historian here, back with the top 5 Bitcoin History moments of the week that was.

We went from turning $18 million to $1.8 billion thanks to the U.S. government, then watched the titan of TradFi Larry Fink go full Bitcoin bull.

Let’s review.

$600 l Uncle Sam gave him a 10,000% profit

The week kicked off with a throwback to 2014.

Bitcoin permabull Tim Draper sat in front of Uncle Sam’s gavel and was ready for action. He took part in a BTC auction held by the U.S. Marshals Service who were offloading 30,000 of the 144,000 bitcoin they had seized from now-defunct online marketplace Silk Road.

He bought the coins for $600 a piece, turning his $18 million investment into a tidy $1.8 billion profit. 

Not bad for a day's work. 

Draper was convinced back then that if the government was willing to auction the coins off, then they decided that this was of real value to society. “If they thought they were going to try to put the kibosh on bitcoin,” Draper said, ten years ago, “I think they would have just buried these.”

$80 l The Atlantic owes you

As is usual with the mainstream media, they tend to get it wrong with Bitcoin.

On July 2, 2013, the Atlantic published an unfortunate headline that read “The Winklevoss Twins Want You To Invest In Bitcoin–Don’t!” It broke a cardinal rule of reporting – don’t give advice – and paid the price.

The price at the time – $80. For everyone who didn’t heed their remarks, you’re up a cool 80,000%. 

Meanwhile, today the Winklevoss bask in the success of their Bitcoin bet.

Cameron and Tyler decided to stack sats en masse. Word on the street is that they own 1% of Bitcoin’s total supply – a cool 200,000 BTC.

$60,173 l Julian’s 53rd birthday

This week, we commended Julian Assange not only for all he has done for humanity, but what he has had to endure as well.

Spending eight years in the Ecuadorian embassy, only to watch a countries sovereignty get trampled on when he was arrested in London by the British, seemed like enough for a journalist. But the elite had more in store.

He had to spend five years behind bars at one of Britian’s most gruesome penitentiaries: Belmarsh prison.

In what stopped short of a miracle, Julian was liberated last week, and now enjoys the balmy breeze of his native Australia.

On July 3, we celebrated his birthday, and raised a glass for a man who has been a force for such good in the world, most of us pale in comparison. 

If you haven’t read his story yet, sit back and read.

$56,977 l Erik Voorhees is a Bitcoin legend

Erik is one of Bitcoin’s most celebrated OGs. He’s credited with being at the forefront of bringing a Libertarian impulse to the scene, so July 4 seemed like a great time to revisit his contributions. No surprise, it’s our longest-ever thread.

In fact, buying the top in 2011 was Erik’s first foray into Bitcoin. One that had him thinking maybe he was late to the party. Who hasn’t been there?

But Erik had conviction. Despite buying at $30 and watching it crash to $2, he wasn’t deterred by the dip. In fact, he kept on buying more. While Bitcoin changed hands for $12 he started a blog and was among the first to call Bitcoin the “separation of state and money.”

It’s a mantra I’m sure you’ve heard today.

Just a year later, he joined fellow Bitcoin OG Charlie Shrem and founded Bitinstant, one of Bitcoin’s first exchanges. And Erik didn’t stop there, quickly becoming a tireless promoter of freedom money around the world. 

Want to find out more about Erik? I highly recommend his thread.

$56,781 l Larry Fink goes full Bitcoin bull

It was the start of a dramatic turn for Wall Street.

On July 5, one year ago, Blackrock CEO Larry Fink went on national television and came out to the world as a Bitcoin bull. “Bitcoin is an international asset,” he would go on to say, seconds after he called out the onerous problems of any one country, including the devaluation of currencies.

Since Fink got involved, his firm has gobbled up 300,000 BTC worth $19 billion on behalf of some of the world’s largest institutions. Then there was that whole matter of BlackRock basically forcing the SEC’s hand for the ETF.

It’s amazing what a difference a year makes.

See you all on Friday,
Rizzo

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